


Put Aside Your Pride, Lucretia

by internetshutin



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Apologies, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-24 18:14:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22162261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/internetshutin/pseuds/internetshutin
Summary: Taako doesn't want anything to do with Lucretia after the Day of Story and Song. But when Lup asks him, he agrees to hear her out.(Title inspired by "Redacted," a fan song by Jake and Gina Smith)
Relationships: The Director | Lucretia & Taako
Comments: 2
Kudos: 40





	Put Aside Your Pride, Lucretia

**Author's Note:**

> Look, a lot of people agree that Lucretia, while not a villain, got off way too easy at the end of Balance and needed to make some reparations to her crew. This is a scene I think needed to happen at some point, since Taako was hurt more than the other Horny Boys by her decision, and I think a lot of the hate directed at Lucretia is because she never properly apologized to everyone she hurt. I originally wrote scene by scene every apology she made to every crew member, but this is the one with the most emotional impact, and I felt like a lot of the others were just fluff, so I cut them. But the scene with Merle inspired another fic I want to write with the two of them, so that'll probably be coming soon-ish.

A knock sounded on the door. Taako looked up at his sister with a grimace on his face. “Do I really have to talk to her?”

Lup nodded. “She’s really trying, hon. She talked to me and Barry last week, and she wasn’t just blowing smoke. She just wants to apologize.”

Taako muttered a string of curses under his breath and went to open the door. There she was. Madame Director. Lucretia. His former friend and one of the only six people on this world or any other who could possibly understand him, and the one person he wanted more than anything else to hit in the face with a brick. “Hi.”

Lucretia smiled at him, but he could tell she was just as uncomfortable as he was. “May I come in?” He contemplated slamming the door in her face, but just stepped aside to allow her in. She kicked her shoes off at the door. “Thank you. Is, uh, Lup here?” 

He rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to blast you, as tempting as that is. Let’s just get this over with.” He led her to the living room, where Lup was already sitting. The look on her face made Taako pause, take a deep breath, and unfurrow his brow. She was here to make nice, so he could behave for a few minutes. He gestured for Lucretia to sit, and did the same across from her. “So you’ve talked to everyone else already, yeah?”

Her posture was tight, elbows tucked in close to herself and knees crossed. “I have. It didn’t seem appropriate to leave things as they were and assume everything would be fine. I hurt a lot of people, especially the crew, and helping you defeat the Hunger can’t make up for the pain I caused.”

_ At least she knows that. _ Taako narrowed his eyes at her. “You let me believe I was alone my whole life. You made me forget my fucking sister. I-” He cut himself off. His hands were trembling, and he had to physically restrain himself to keep from launching himself across the room at her. “I don’t give two shits how much you apologize, Lucretia. I will never forgive you for what you did to me. No, fuck me, what you did to  _ Lup. _ ” He gestured to his sister, who just sighed and looked away, as if to say,  _ Leave me out of this. _ “I found her, Lucretia. I found a fucking skeleton and I had no idea who it was. I had no fucking clue. I carried around her Umbra staff for over a fucking  _ year _ and you never told me!” Tears were welling up in his eyes.  _ No, fuck that. I’m not crying in front of this bitch. _ “I had my sister in my fucking hands and-” His voice cracked. “And you never once told me. You fed me some horseshit story about Umbra Wizards or what have you, when you could have told me the truth! I could have gotten her out sooner!”

“I wanted to tell you,” she pleaded. Her voice was small. For the first time since her solitary cycle, some forty years ago now, she sounded like the young mousy woman that had boarded the Starblaster on their home world. All the gravitas that she’d picked up through years of watching worlds destroyed was gone. “As soon as I saw the staff, I wanted to tell you. I just didn’t know how.”

Taako laughed, a harsh, bitter bark. “Oh, that makes me feel so much better! You  _ wanted _ to tell me, so that just gets rid of all the heartache you put me through, does it?” 

She wiped her cheek to remove the only tear that had managed to escape her calm facade. “I’m sorry, Taako. There’s nothing I can do to make this up to you, I know. I just wanted you to know how sorry I am.”

“It doesn’t change anything.” He didn’t like how harsh his voice was. He didn’t like being this angry. But just being around his former crewmate was enough to make his blood boil. All he wanted was to be alone with Lup and pretend the last decade or so hadn’t happened. “You said your piece. Now get out.”

Lup spoke up for the first time. “Taako!” Her eyes were blazing like she was about to lay into him. If the Gauntlet still existed, she might have turned him into black glass then and there.

“No, he’s right.” Lucretia stood from her seat. “I didn’t come here expecting forgiveness. It would be unreasonably optimistic of me.” She held out a hand to shake Taako’s, but he just stared at it. She cleared her throat and pulled it back. “Thank you for letting me come in and talk to you. If nothing else, I’m glad you heard what I had to say.”

Taako nodded. He would have let her leave without another word, but the way Lup was looking at him, he figured he might as well have a witness for a few more seconds before he died. “Lucretia.” She turned, an  _ unreasonably optimistic _ look of hope in her eyes. He sighed. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad you came here and told me all that in person. Takes a lot of balls not to just write a letter or what have you. I almost killed you last time we saw each other, and you still came by to see me. I… appreciate it.”

She offered a shaky smile. “And I appreciate you agreeing to see me at all. I hope one day these meetings get easier for both of us.”

“Yeah, me too,” he said. “I guess I’ll see you around.”

“I suppose so.” She took a moment to put on her shoes and left the twins alone.

Lup didn’t jump down Taako’s throat immediately, just watching him for a moment. “Y’know, Magnus apparently didn’t even let her finish her sentence before he forgave her.”

Taako laughed. “Of course. He met his wife because she did it. Merle got kids out of it. But you and me, Barold, Cap’nport? We got fucking nada. For twelve years. I don’t… hate her, but I can’t just forgive her. At least, not right now.”

“I know. But you heard her out, and that’s good enough for now.” She wrapped him in a hug. “Now come on, let’s go make dinner.”


End file.
